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Does anyone have a good method of recognizing notes on the staff (both staffs) ? I seem to be hesitant (need to calculate) what the note is, particularly those above and below the staff.Any advice is appreciated.

I don't know what resources may be avilable online (I wrote music out myself to teach my boys reading on guitar) but a good way of getting over this hurdle to do a little sight reading in each hand separately on top of you normal curriculum. Recorder music for beginners begins, usually, with the three notes G, A and B. This might be a good place to start and only when the staves are known expand to ledger lines.

Someone wrote an excellent post on this forum some time ago about the ACE trick of recognising the first ledger lines above and below both staves as containing the notes A, C and E and once the pattern is learnt terrific progress can be made. Keep it in mind for later.

Get used to notes falling around G in the treble clef and F in the bass clef and expand as your comfort zone grows. It really doesn't take as long as you might think.

Do not lose sight of the fact that you must also know which key on the keyboard corresponds to that note.

It is not enough to just look at the staff and say the note name. You must also play that note on your keyboard at the same time. You must associate that note name with a particular key on the keyboard.

There may be lots of fancy ways to approach this but I happen to think that just sitting at the piano and playing single notes (from simple melody lines) and saying the note names as you play will give as good a result as any.

EDIT: The notes below and above the staff on the lines spell A C E just remember below the bass clef you are reading it down : E C A

Edited by BillTheSlink (01/20/1310:20 PM)

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Currently I am without a piano, but when I get mine back I will be working on "The Complete Piano Player", as well as Neely's "How to Play from a Fake Book. I am spending my time working on theory and learning how to construct chords currently.

It's helpful to remember that if a given note is on a line, then in next octave it will be in a space. Ex: Middle C is on a line, but the C above and the C below are both in spaces.

That's a great tip! I use that often, and something similar while looking at the piano, especially around middle C where notes can be written in either clef with ledger lines. If a note is a line in one clef, it will also be a line in the other. So play a note on the piano, say E above middle C. Line note, no matter where it's written.

The same way you get to Carnagie hall, Practice, Practice, Practice. A lot of practice. It will come but it takes a while to internalize it, but if you keep at it you will and then you won't need to "calculate."

For example when you read this sentence, you probably don't give thought to each individual letter, because at a glance you can read the entire word.

I can do that, pretty much without thinking about "what note is this" up to 3 leger lines above and below both staffs. Of course, my brain can do that. My fingers haven't a clue and prefer to select random notes.

Today you might have to count lines and spaces every time. Tomorrow there might be one you recognize instantly, then there will be another. It just takes time and repetition, until you recognize the note and don't have to stop and examine its position. It does help to make sure that the music you are working with is printed very clearly and not too small too read easily.